"The modernist literature" -Waiting for Godot Assignment

Assignment on the"Waiting for Godot."

M.A. English- Paper no. 09 The Modernist Literature

●Semester - 3

Presented by:-  Prinjal Shiya

Email id. prinjal00123@gmail.com

Batch no.:- 2018 to 2020

Department of English-

Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

◆Submitted  to :-

Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad,

Head of the Department,

Department of English

MKBU.

◆Question: "Waiting for Godot" as absurd theatre.

#    SAMUEL BECKETT was writer, poet and literary translator and he wrote a novel also. He is krishna and born in Dingin and his parents were Angelo irish. He graduated in modern language. Training college, Dublin. He was a lecturer ditinggal  1928 at Ecole Normale in Paris. He was influenced by -

EXISTENTIALISM. And they were Camus and Sartre. And after he moves back Dublin and finally again start teaching. 

     He wrote in both English and french languages, but when he wrote "Waiting for Groot" he did it in French, and then it was translated by himself. He won a Nobel Prize in 1969 for Literatuur.  I think his time was 1906 to 1989 may be Golden time because, he wrote the play "Waiting for Godot". It's very famous work during the 19th century. Samuel Beckett with together with Eigen unesco komen  as the father of the 'Absurd.' I have two questions,

●What is the purpose of our life?

●What is the purpose of human distance?

◆Existentialism:-

  ●Key Themes of Existentialism:-

  ●Philosophy as a way of life,

  ●Anxiety and Authenticity,

  ●Freedom,

  ●Situatedness,

  ●Existence,

  ●Irrationality or Absurdity,

  ●The Crowd.

   ◆ Existentialist Philosophers:-

  

  ●Soren Kierkegaard,

  ●Friedrich Nietzsche,

  ●Martin Heidegger,

  ●Jean - Paur Sartre,

  ●Simone de Beauvoir,

  ●Albert Camus.

  ◆ The Influence of Existentialism;

 1) The Arts and Philology,

  2) Philosophy.

  * What is 'existentialism' ?

    

    "Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom and Choice."

# Existentialism believes that individuals are entirely free and must take 'Personal responsibility' for themselves. SUMAN SHAH's facebook post "વિચરતા વિચારો" was very appropriate for better understanding in this point.

  Suman Shah gives us some points about Survivalist/ existentialism; like 

●Individualism,

●A person always alone/ loneliness,

●Yet I will be myself,

●World is world and I-I am,

●Things are things and I am as a soul,

●I am a human being( independent),

●Internal source and external source,

●Anxiety becomes a reality,

●Throw/ Thrownness; 

●Facticity,( in Hamlet & Oedipus Rex; one's end others rise).

●Choice; ( with four questions).

    And at one appreciate points through he concluded that, "Every things may happen; nothing comes from outside and we are responsible for it."  

       "Universe means Absurd."

  It shows absurdity because it is meaninglessness. He tak

talking about tulong class and working class. Tulong class people focus on capitalism and working class questions against. "Theater of Anger" attacked on the establishment. 

    "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful." Samuel Beckett's line is always shows Meaninglessness, Absurd and Nothingness. His play is -"The waiting for Godot" is a play called "Absurd Play", but why? Let's see,

       I read somewhere that The term “absurd” was first used by Albert Camus in his famous work, "The Myth of Sisyphus" (1942). It is very clear from the very word “Absurd” that it means nonsensical, opposed to reason, something silly, foolish, senseless, ridiculous and topsy-turvy. So, this type of story would be called an absurd play. The life which has been shown in ‘waiting’ for Godot has something to do with reality? Pozzo says that life has no meaning and it is transient. Everything goes on changing, breaking within the course of time. We can find that Pozzo is a master and lucky is slave but in another act, Pozzo is blind and is led by lucky. It was the time when lucky used to be insulted, abused and made source of entertainment but now Pozzo scolds tramps for teasing lucky and he understands his value. Pozzo needs luckey in each and every movement. Vladimir tells that life is nothing because we made it occupied with habit and deadened. At the end of the play Vladimir wonders whether he is awake or not. He realizes that there is a lack of purpose in their lives. The play not only indicates gloomy, surreal note on desert  street but at the same time it includes life, consciousness of the characters and Existence.

    “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s awful.” The absurd dramatist felt that conventional language had failed man and it was inadequate means of communication. The uselessness of language was used by the characters constantly; they speak in clichés, overused, tired expressions. They use language to feel the emptiness between them, to conceal the fact that they have 'nothing' to talk about to each other.

Ex. Lucky’s speech is the best example in the first act. In fact, everything is structured by this revenge motive. But in Waiting for Godot, where there is no motivated action, the sense of nothingness play the pivotal role in determining every aspect of the play. Absurd play has a repetitive cyclical structure.

     

     “Everything is dead but the tree.”

   “nothing to be done”. pozzo is blind lucky is dump but entire scene is played without the audience knowing that lucky is now dump .As they enter, Staggering under their loud , lucky now carries suitcases filled with sand. Lucky falls and drank pozzo down with him. And then the departure of pozzo and lucky meanwhile Vladimir and estragon alone. While Vladimir and pozzo have been talking, estragon has been sleeping again in his fatal position , Vladimir feeling lonely , awakens him, Significantly since estragon was sleeping in his fetal position has dreams were happy once , but even so , Vladimir refuses to listen to them . Vladimir‘s final final speech entrance of the messenger suggests that he feels a deep enlargements from the universe. Something tells him to be her at this place at this time, with his friend estragon while waiting for godot. Furthermore, he is aware of misery, a disquietedness which he cannot understand life seem as though it is astride of a grave and there is to be a “difficult birth “for the Grave Digger puts on the farces with the arrival of pozzo and lucky, Vladimir and estragon think that help have arrived from godot but they soon realize that it is just pozzo and lucky. Estragon wants to leave then, but Vladimir must remind him once again that they cannot thin statement clarifies the idea that Vladimir and estragon represent all mankind units relationship to god. Realizing this Vladimir also realizing that man's fate is to which a cruel fate consigned us. And after the boy messenger come near Vladimir and estragon. Vladimir depression is suddenly by the appearance of the boy since this boy asserts that he was not hear yesterday, he has to be a different one. However, the message that he come tomorrow without fail thus Vladimir find that there is absolutely nothing to do but wait for godot .But view of the massage from the boy of the preceding day the assurance that godot will come tomorrow is lacking in conviction . Upon questioning the boy further, Vladimir discovers two things that godot does nothing and that he has a write beard since god is sometimes viewed as a supreme entity doing nothing and passes sing long while since godot is god. But, no one has come from them and one boy was come and give answers to Vladimir, like as the messenger of Godot.

    “They all change, only we can’t.” this dialogue is very deeper and somehow it is our experience also. Many people think like that they never change for anything and stay as it is. So, it's purpose is to convince the message for people through this line. I take Lucky and Pozzo in consideration and the relation between both of them is slave and master. I think this relationship between humans and God then humans will be Lucky who is slave and God will be Pozzo who is master. When our master go blind then even we don’t try to free ourselves. Because we think this rode as safety or the necessary element for happiness and salvation. Then we can see Lucky caring too many bags and don’t put it down. When it is asked to Pozzo he says that there is sand in the bags which as per Christianity is symbol of sin. So this wants to show that humans are under the burden of their sin and to get rid of that sin they keep waiting and keep following what master and later on blind master says. We also can read Boy’s character who passes the message of Mr. Godot to Vladimir and Estragon. We can interpret him as a messenger of God. God has sent him to pass his message to all humanity. The people around us are also claiming to be a messenger of god. This is also we can read in context of Christianity that they believe in messengers, that's why people think like that the messenger will come and give them happiness from everyday's boring life.

  ◆Summer up:

  I concluded my topic with the question, 'What is the meaning of our presence in the universe?' May be nothing or may be something. Somehow it's like a dream and somehow it is like the reality of our existence. Thank you!